More ‘League of Legends’ Champions Are Getting Updated Visual Effects

Riot Games is planning on updating the visual effects of four more champions with one sound effect update planned for a fifth. These changes won’t be full-on champion updates like we’ve seen with Morgana and Kayle recently, but they’ll give the champions’ abilities a fresh new look and sound. Ashe, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, and Jax are the four champions who have new visual effects being tested on the PBE now, and Renekton is also getting a sound effects update.

Just as it did with other champions like Dr. Mundo, Teemo, and Renekton in the past, Riot announced its plans to update four new champions and take another pass at Renekton. The updates target some of League’s older champions, and they’re planned for a release in Patch 9.9.

“Similar to the previous VFX updates we’ve made in the past (Kennen, Olaf, Wukong, etc), we’re working on updates to the Visual Effects (VFX) of more champions whose spell effects are in need of some love,” Riot Sirhaian said on the League boards. “Our aim is to get their FX to current League standards and improve gameplay clarity. In Patch 9.9, we’ll be releasing VFX updates for Ashe, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn and Jax, and an SFX update for Renekton.”

Details on the champions’ visual and sound updates were shared in the post along with a video for each champion, each of those seen below.

Ashe

Ashe’s update, seen above, will change the following effects on all of her skins that use the basic visual effects.

Effects:

• BA – Basic attacks are now frosty with an updated arrow model
• Q – Mostly added more glow and frost
• W – Cleaned up unnecessary noise and created a sharper projectile
• E – She now fires an icy hawk that explodes into snow on impact. Updated model for the hawk!
• R – New arrow model and made it feel more threatening and cold. Should now slightly indicate the hitbox more clearly.
• P – Frosty and cool

Blitzcrank

Blitzcrank’s also getting some new visuals, though it’s important to remember that he’s also getting a small gameplay update as well that’ll change how he plays.

Effects:

• BA – New hit effects.
• Q – Blitzcrank’s Q has been updated to (finally) show the actual width and distance of the hook. Should now be more consistent with the hitbox. Also cleaned up a bit and added a small cast effect.
• W – Cleaned up, with added electricity.
• E – Cleaned up, with added electricity on his fists. New uppercut hit effect.
• R – Finally shows the actual range! Yes, it’s always been this big. Should also be more satisfying. The R ready indicator (the body electricity) has also been cleaned up.
• P – The barrier has been cleaned up a bit.

Skins:

• Rusty Blitzcrank: Rustier.
• Piltover Customs Blitzcrank: Cleaned up and recolored W effects.
• iBlitzcrank: Cleaned up his Q and added jetpacks in his W run. Preserved the lens flares in his E.
• Riot Blitzcrank: R has a hint of red.
• Battle Boss Blitzcrank: Improved R satisfaction and adjusted the R AOE size.
• Lancer Rogue Blitzcrank: Cleaned up R noise.
• Lancer Paragon Blitzcrank: Cleaned up R noise.

Caitlyn

The goal of Caitlyn’s update is to “clean up unnecessary noise” and bring her in line with modern standards, Riot said. Some of her skins will also get special attention.

Effects:

BA – Cleaned up and removed all the noise. Also new hit impacts.

Q – Cleaned up and removed the noise. Also added a width indicator on both Q1 and Q2 for clarity. New hit impacts.

W – Reduced activation noise. Cleaned up the root effect. Ally traps now glow blue instead of green to match our modern standards.

E – Cleaned up, and now more accurately represent the width of the missile.

R – Reduced the R target effect’s noise and improved timing a bit. Also new cast effect, missile and hit effect.

P – New headshot missile and effects. Should be more readable and satisfying!

Skins:

Headhunter Caitlyn: Cleaned up the projectiles. Added the width indicator on Q1 and Q2.

Lunar Wraith Caitlyn: Cleaned up the projectiles. Adjusted width of Q missiles to match base. Also cleaned up R charging and hit effects.

JAX

Jax still won’t have a real weapon in his base skin after the update, but his lamppost’s effects will look a bit more modern. Two of his skins – Nemesis Jax and God Staff Jax – are getting updated, however.

Effects:

• BA – Cleaned up and more impactful
• Q – Cleaned up and a bit more readable
• W – Activation more visible, and added fire to the lamp post. Bigger impact, too.
• E – Cleaned up, and now shows the range of the stun!
• R – Cleaned up and more visible, with some sand particles!
• R P – Third hit now much more clear and satisfying.

Skins:

• Nemesis Jax: New particles over the entire kit, to give it some more uniqueness.
• God Staff Jax: Added the stun range indicator on his E to match the changes on base.

Renekton

Renekton benefitted from a pass at his visual effects in one of Riot’s earlier updates, and he’ll now have some audio effects to match.

Effects:

• Q – Emphasizing the Blade on the Cast as well as the Hit
• W – Cleaning up loops with EQ, adding blade textures to Execute and Super Execute
• E – Slice and Dice has applied Tremolo in the cast, more Transient to the Hit
• R – Debris in the Loops have more debris texture with EQ as well. The Cast has more texture to represent some faction tonality
• P – EQ present on the Cast and cleaner growl.